IAMGOLD : Zero Lost Time accidents during construction of Saramacca haul road

Zero Lost Time accidents during construction of Saramacca haul road

Rosebel Gold Mines has once again set a special record. 'Zero lost time accidents (LTA) were registered in the construction of the 23 km-long transport road, which took 700,000 hours,' says Vishand Bhajan, Health & Safety Superintendent of the Saramacca project. Construction of the road started in November 2018 and ended on December 6, 2020. At some point in the project, 250 people were employed, most of whom were contractors.

Vishand speaks of a milestone: 'to achieve this, it was necessary for every employee to commit to the Health & Safety rules, especially the large group of contractors.' Despite these challenges, Vishand's department was committed not only to induct and train the contractors, but also to always check the procedures before they started working. 'Our approach was to be proactive and it paid off. The DART (0.0) and TRIR (0.29) are well below the IAMGOLD targets of 0.51 and 0.59.'

'We are very proud to have achieved this unprecedented milestone. Despite some stagnations, H&S has continued to focus on safety and delivering the road construction without accidents. Safety must be an integral part of every job and everyone must understand that there isn't a job where safety cannot be considered,' completed Vishand.

Congratulations to the team at Rosebel!